Temporary Skate Park Gets Nod

Council Permits Summer Use Of Basketball Court

EAST HAMPTON — Town skateboarders will finally have a place to call home - for now.

The town council Tuesday agreed to let a group of youths use a basketball court at Center Elementary School on Summit Street for a temporary park this summer.

The town has been without a skateboard park since 2006, when a park off Barton Hill Road was closed because of misuse.

The old park was in an isolated location, and since its closure, a group of youths has been asking the town to help find a more suitable place to put the park. The youths formed the East Hampton Skatepark Committee to raise money and attention for the new park.

"I'm sad that it took us this long to get here, but I'm thrilled that it's a step in the right direction," said Kimberley Fontaine, an adult advocate for the committee.

Some members of the committee showed up to the council meeting Tuesday, skateboards in hand, to support the temporary solution.

"I think it would really kick rear-end if we got (ramps at the court) and it would help on the track of getting a skatepark," Dalton Page, an eighth grader on the committee, said during the public comment portion of the meeting.

The youths plan to build the ramps on June 14. They will be responsible to keep them maintained throughout the summer. The park will be dissembled by Labor Day, and will be removed from the property during the town's annual summer festival, "Old Home Days."

Council members said the temporary park would be a way for the skateboarders to prove they are responsible and that they can police themselves. The police department also has said it will make patrols of the area.

"This is going to set the tone," said interim Town Manager Robert Drewry. "If this goes over well, I think the council has to look seriously at a permanent skate park."

While the committee has been fundraising for the past two years to buy equipment, Fontaine said the money is designated for a permanent park. That means the group is looking to raise another $1,500 - the total cost of materials for the temporary ramps ---- before June 14, Fontaine said.